Region VIII: 2021 Regional Training Engagement and

Presented by Madeline Zielinski and Johanna Bergan May 25, 2021 Madeline Zielinski (she/they) You t h P ro g ra m Sp e cia list , You t h MO VE Na t io n a l Madeline got her start in youth advocacy attending Indiana Youth Group, an LGBTQ+ drop-in center. This sparked her passion to destigmatize LGBTQ issues and educate on their intersectionality with mental wellness. Prior to Youth MOVE National she was the state coordinator for Youth MOVE Indiana and served as a representative on the IN-Suicide Prevention Network Advisory Council, the State LGBTQ+ board, the Commission on Improving the Status of Children, and the Vice- Chair of the Indiana Systems of Care Youth and Subcommittee Johanna Bergan (she/her) Exe cu t ive Dire ct o r, You t h MO VE Na t io n a l Johanna leads and guides Youth MOVE National’s work to ensure all young adults in youth-serving systems are seen as leaders. As a young mother, she saw the need for positive systems change and was one of the many young adults on the frontlines of Youth MOVE National’s founding. She believes strongly that change stems from dialogue between individuals with lived experience. You wouldn’t believe this about Johanna, but she’s an introvert. She can be seen frequently recommending niche podcasts to unsuspecting individuals. Introductions

• Name and Pronouns • Role/Organization and Location • What is a game you played in your youth?

Please use the Chat Box :) Workshop Go a ls

● Increase understanding of youth voice and engagement strategies in youth-serving organizations ● Assessing youth voice to increase best practices ● Identify current engagement opportunities in our own organizations ● Identify ways to increase youth engagement in our own organizations What we do and why we do it...

We’re a youth-driven, local partner- based organization dedicated to improving services and systems that support positive growth and development by uniting voices of individuals who have lived experience in various systems including mental health, juvenile justice, education, and child welfare.

Motivating Others through Voices of Experience How we do it...

• Support the development of youth-run programming and organizations in communities • Provide training and technical assistance to support implementation of efforts, youth programming, youth advisory boards, and youth peer support • Partner with federal and state initiatives to support youth engagement efforts in grants and programs • Key partner in the National Training and Technical Assistance Center, leading youth engagement and efforts to support young adults of transition age, in the child and youth mental health system • Led the Youth MOVE Peer Center, a SAMHSA funded Consumer TA Center, to implement youth peer services Acknowledgements/Funder

The assessment tools discussed in this webinar were developed, in part, with support from the National Technical Assistance Network for Children’s Behavioral Health at the University of Maryland, funded by the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service (HHS), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) through Contract #HHSS280201500007C. Foundations of Youth Engagement Lofquist’s Spectrum of Attitudes: a tool to examine and describe adult and youth relationships

When considering in agency planning, operating, and evaluation, are youth: Objects Recipients Resources

In other words, are things at the agency done ______youth: TO FOR WITH Lofquist’s Spectrum of Attitudes: a tool to examine and describe adult and youth relationships Recipients Resources Objects “TO” “FOR” “WITH”

The Objective The Objective The Objective Personal growth of young people Personal growth of young people Increased organizational effectiveness In Practice In Practice In Practice Adult is in control with no intention Adult is in control and allows youth There is a youth/adult partnership of youth involvement involvement which allows for shared control The Byproduct The Byproduct The Byproduct Conformity of young people and Increased organizational Personal growth of young people acceptance of the program as it is effectiveness and adults Where is your organization on the Loftquist Spectrum?

Menti.com: 1749 5422 Small Group Discussions

● Reflection on Menti -poll results ● Read and discuss handouts (Ladder and Matrix) ● Preparations for report out Report out:

What did your group discuss/discover?

Assessing Youth Voice to Increase Best Practices Understanding Youth Voice

Youth MOVE National's Youth Best Practices Committee has been working to support the field with understanding: – What it means to be youth guided and young adult driven – What youth and young adult leaders contribute to the field through meaningful engagement and what youth organizations offer for supports and services for the field – What are indicators of success related to • Youth and young adult peer support • Meaningful youth engagement • Quality health and wellness for those with MH challenges Identified as a Priority

The Youth Best Practices committee identified a need to understand what supports youth/ young adult “voice” at agency and system levels – Clarify what sorts of resources and commitments are required – Prevent people from reinventing the wheel each time and/or causing distress or harm – Provide a tailored and data-driven approach for developing, implementing and advancing youth driven activities What are the Y -VAL a n d Y-VO C?

Youth Voice at the Agency Level (Y-VAL) and Youth Voice on Council and Committees (Y-VOC) Assessments

• Provides a framework of key indicators of meaningful and successful youth voice in program design at the agency level or on a council

• Assessing allows for a collective and reflective process to better understanding where the agency or council is with engaging youth • Promotes a shared vision for success • Identifies strengths and needs • Supports with moving towards sustainable engagement • Helps young people advocate for meaningful participation and support

• Aids in assessing impact of technical assistance Developing the Y -VAL a n d Y-VO C

• Partnership with Portland State University

• Review of existing assessment tools that looked at youth voice in organizational programing

• Input, review, and edits from Youth MOVE National’s Youth Best Practice Committee

• National validation study (complete for Y-VAL; in progress for Y-VOC)

• The Y-VAL and Y-VOC tools are free and accessible at https://www.research.net/r/YVAL Y-VAL Them es: Y-VOC Them es: Theme 2: Collaborative Approach

•Youth- and young adult friendly meetings •The agency has worked with young people to establish good meeting practices that encourage young people to engage in meeting activities. •Good meeting practices include providing meeting materials in advance, keeping meetings short and efficient, beginning with ice-breakers or sharing time, explaining acronyms and jargon, and providing food and taking regular breaks. •Meetings are scheduled at times and locations that Y/YA can attend. Responses...

N/A 1 2 3 4 5

Does not LEAST MIDWAY FULLY apply, or I do DEVELOPED DEVELOPED not know about this

none of the aspects in place/ all aspects consistently in place/ not true for our organization completely true for our organization Theme 2 Areas of strength: 2b: Respectful partnering

Opportunity for growth: 2e: Transparent decision making Development Process

• Literature review, expert review/debrief, best practices committee: search “pathwaysrtc” • 41 items grouped into 7 “themes” • Feedback on each item: • How essential is it to include this as an expectation? Essential, optional, inadvisable • What do you think about the wording? Fine as is, minor revision, major revision • Open-ended comments • Feedback on the theme • Do the items “cover” the themes adequately? New Version

1. Overall vision and commitment (8 items) 2. Collaborative approach (5 items) 3. Empowered representatives (5 items) 4. Commitment to facilitation and support of Y/YA participation (3 items) 5. Workforce development (4 items) 6. Participation in developing programming/program policies (5 items) 7. Participation in evaluation (4 items) 8. Leading initiatives and projects (3 items) Validation Study

• Online survey including the Y-VAL and parts of two other assessments with published information on reliability/validity • Recruitment using two strategies • Organizations recruited/registered—data collection began early February, ongoing • “Open call”—data gathering starting Responses

• 385 total received, but 134 partial • 84% of these stopped when they could view theme 1 • Non-completers were significantly more likely to • – Not be directly involved in efforts to increase voice at the agency level • – Older • Non-completers removed. • Remaining data only 1.3% missing Organizational Focus Respondents’ Ages Organizations’ Activities Theme Means Items with Highest Means Items with Lowest Means Validation: ANOVA

● Type of organization significant p <.01 ● Youth/YA/Peers vs other, significant p<.05 ● Interaction n.s. ● Same pattern for themes Validation: Other Assessments

• Youth-Adult Partnerships in Community Programs (Zeldin et al., 2014) demonstrated strong factorial, discriminant, and concurrent validity for two subscales: • Supportive Adult relationships, 4 items, α=.84 in their study, α=.77 in our study • – Youth Voice in Decision Making, 5 items, α=.85 in their study, α=.81 in our study • Quality Assessment (Hohmann & Smith, 2005), strong psychometrics for two constructs from the Youth-Centered Policies and Practices subscale – Influence on Settings and Activities (3 items), α= .77 in our study – Youth-Centered Policies and Practices (5 items), α=.84 in our study Inter -sca le Co rre la t io n s Y-VAL SAR YVDM Settings Policy

Y-VAL 1 .593** .656** .660** .703**

SAR .593** 1 .843** .468** .490**

YVDM .656** .843** 1 .497** .516**

Settings .660** .468** .497** 1 .718**

Policy .703** .490** .516** .718** 1

** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). Questions A Look at Local Partners

What do youth led organizations look like day to day? Idaho: Bo ise Brickh o u se •This brick and mortar youth drop-in center had provided young adult with a secure place to socialize, learn, and connect with resources. •Currently they have had success in transitioning to a virtual model utilizing the online platform Discord. •IG: @BoiseBrickhouse Nat Parry (they/they) [email protected] Youth MOVE Indiana Resources

• Information about YVAL/YVOC

• Youth MOVE National Website

• Youth MOVE Peer Center Website

• Information on the Youth Advocate Leadership Academy @ Us Next Time

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